A Mutant Hanyou
by Silver Shoelaces
Summary: Kagome Higurashi, a not so average Japanese schoolgirl, participates in a student exchange program with Scott Summers from Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Rated for violence and dangerous situations.
1. Chapter 1 version 2

A/N: This is version 2.0 of chapter one. It contains sections from my original chapters one and two, as well as some added narrative that I felt was missing the first time around.

A/N 2: Footnotes will be marked with numbers in parentheses for your convenience. That way, I won't bother you with author notes in the middle of my fanfiction if you already understand the terms I've used.

"Higurashi!"

"Hai?"

"You do know that if you miss a certain number of classes, you will fail your freshman year of high school, right?"

Higurashi Kagome paused for a moment. The teacher's stern gaze didn't waver, and she realized with a pang that she had forgotten about that regulation for high school. "Hai..."

"And you also know that you have missed one day more than the maximum number of days you can miss to pass the tenth grade?" the teacher continued slowly.

Kagome was silent for a while as that thought sunk in. She knew she was doing badly in Geometry, and she by no means was good at proofs, but she thought that she could maintain at least a C average for her grades overall. She knew after her constant D's in Geometry and her almost failing grades last year that she couldn't possibly get a B average, but she hadn't taken her absences into account.

"Is there some sort of extra credit assignment?" she asked finally. She prayed that there was. She definitely didn't want to be left behind while everyone else graduated from high school.

"Why yes, Higurashi, there is. However, it will cost some elective money from your parents to pay for the trip; it's expensive to be an exchange student to America."

Kagome bottled up her excitement, which took an enormous amount of mental strength on her part. She wanted to scream with joy. She had always wanted to go to America, and this was her chance! "Seriously, Sensei? The extra credit trip is to America?"

Tanaka-sensei nodded. "It's an exchange program. You would be transferred to a school called _Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters_. It is a highly prestigious school with a reputation of salvaging students' grades to which most believed had no hope. They always find the right way to teach so the instruction sticks with you, and as smart as you are, that should be no problem if you stop falling sick all of the time. Your flight will be at Sakura Airport, and you will leave next Sunday morning at 10:00 if you so choose to be there."

Kagome smiled, ignoring completely the suddenness with which the offer had been placed upon her. "Doumo arigato gozaimasu. I'll be there at ten."

Tanaka-sensei handed her a plane ticket, they both bowed respectfully (Kagome bowed lower to show extra respect), and Kagome forced herself to walk until she got to the edge of the school building. Only then did Kagome dash home. She left her shoes at the door, walked in, and slipped on the slippers that she had to wear exclusively inside the house. Her mom walked over to her.

"So, how was your day at school, Kagome?"

Kagome grinned. "I'm going to America!"

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier of the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, a bald, elderly man, leaned back in his wheelchair and sifted through his mail wearily. A few of the elementals had decided to play element tag that morning, resulting in three cases of frostbite, seven burns, and electrical overloads of three security alarms. In conclusion, Scott Summers, trying to break up the dangerous game, suffered frostbite as well as the three second-degree burns. He managed to make the students see things his way, yes, but even Xavier couldn't really trust someone with laser eyes completely, especially since young Mr. Summers was a teenager himself. 

A very formal-looking letter caught his eye. Charles gave it a double take. It had the return address of the American National Student Exchange Committee, or ANSEC for short. This new committee was a part of the current president's campaign to promote student exchange programs around the world. They were a huge success, with students from China, South Korea, Italy, France, Egypt, Russia, South Africa, and even poor countries like Sudan.

Charles opened the letter, these ideas running through his head like a river through a forest. The letter, in short, was a congratulatory letter directed toward the Institute. He read it. Xavier closed his eyes for a minute, as if asleep, and was motionless until the sound of rushed footsteps entered his office. Without opening his eyes, he motioned toward his student, a serious-looking redhead named Jean Grey, to close the door, and she obliged.

She sat down. "Professor, why did you call me?"

He opened his eyes gravely. "If you do not want others to find out about us, we will have to act quickly. Convert the target practice into an archery range. Close off the controls to the Danger Room and convert it to a gym. Tell Hank McCoy he is to not be seen. Kurt is to wear his holo-watch at all times. We have to go onto a sub-digressive minor lockdown mode."

"Why is that, Professor?"

"Miss Grey, listen to this. 'Mr. Charles Xavier, we are pleased to inform you that the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters has been nominated and accepted into the exchange program. As you know, you will teach an exchange student for anywhere from two to four years, and one of your students will get the learning experience of a lifetime by studying in a foreign country. Your school has been widely acclaimed and the Japanese government particularly requested the Institute for the program. One of the school's students needs a break from busy city life and has agreed to spend the remainder of her school year with you, as she has been absent exactly one day too many for her to pass her Freshman year of High School due to various illnesses that were unavoidable on her part. Because your school teaches over the summer as well, we are delighted to inform you that you will be the school this very good student will attend. Thank you, and have an excellent school year. Sincerely, the ANSEC.' Now, Jean, what shall we do about that?"

"We were nominated without our knowledge?"

"Yes. Nomination is confidential, unfortunately. We were probably nominated by a parent of one of our students. As you know, not all of the parents know about our school's special nature."

"There's no way out of this?"

"No. We are acclaimed to be the best school in the US, and if we didn't participate in this program, it would look highly suspicious. The government would investigate, they would find out about us, and we would be shut down. As I said before, we need to go on a sub-digressive minor lockdown mode."

"Yes, Professor. I understand, sir."

Jean hurried out the door. Xavier sighed and went back about his business with the mail. One couldn't be bothered with something as minor as overseeing a sub-digressive minor lockdown mode when one was Professor Xavier. It was a boring, tedious task, and he could do it from his office while filing papers, anyway. See, Xavier was not a normal person. He was the head of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, the special school for persons with the mutant gene, the gene that gives humans superhuman powers, such as super strength, laser vision, and yes, telepathy. He didn't need a closed-circuit camera system to view what was going on during the lockdown; he could oversee it while working on his everyday business, such as filing papers or reading through applications for his exclusive school. Of course, since one had to be selected in order to participate in the school program, the first place the applications generally went was in the trash. Normal humans would be terrified if they knew about mutants, so Charles made it his duty to ensure that mutant activity didn't get out of hand, or at least just not bad enough to be seen by the government as a threat. That consisted of making their existence almost invisible. It was a shame; the school had originally been formed as a training school for mutants who wanted to use their powers for the common good. Now it was simply a normal school, albeit the fact that all of the students were mutants, and one of the "core classes" was a class on how to control their powers.

Of course, sending one's son or daughter off to "mutant school" is not a very easy thing to do. Some parents would view it as a prep school, others as a school to cure the mutant "disease". Others still would just think this school promoted segregation between mutants and everyone else. Because of this, only parents who already knew about their childrens' powers were informed of this other duty of the Institute. Most parents just believed it was a special accelerated program for intelligent and unsuccessful adolescents, and indeed, it was.

Xavier put a letter to one of his students in the mailbox for another staff member to sort through, and took a look at what was going on. Kurt was wearing his watch, disguising his outward appearance…good. Kitty wasn't running around anymore, making sure to walk around things instead of through them. Yes. Even with the cooperation of his students, this was going to be a difficult day.

* * *

Inu-Yasha cursed. What was taking Kagome so long? He knew Kagome often left the Sengoku Jidai (1) for extended periods of time, but she had already been gone a week! He punched the ground in frustration and sped out of Kaede's hut, ignoring the soft mist that lay upon the ground or the muted colors of early daylight, and raced toward the forest where that accursed well was. He jumped inside, ricoched off the bottom, and sprang toward Kagome's house, cursing at her as he went along. He slid the door open as fast as its track would allow. "Kagome!" he cried. "Come on! We're waiting for you, idiot!" He looked down at the table where Souta and the old man were sitting. No Kagome. "Oi, where'd she go?" 

"Kagome left already," Souta said blandly.

"What do you mean? She's always here on Satty-days!" Inu-Yasha pouted. Did this school thing require her to go even more often than she had let on? Why couldn't she just ditch it and be done?

"No, she and Mama went to the Sakura airport this morning so Kagome could catch her flight."

"Air-port? Flight? They went hunting without me?" Inu-Yasha asked sourly. He didn't want to sound stupid not knowing words. He thought maybe she was trying to catch a flight of birds for dinner that night. Was this a festival of some sort?

"Hunting?" the old man asked incredulously. "Heavens, no. The airport is somewhere where people go to fly to other countries or islands. It's like a ships' port. Kagome is riding something called an airplane that will take her to America, where she is getting a new schooling." His eyes glowed with admiration for Kagome's situation.

Inu-Yasha cursed, but to himself. "Old man," he demanded, glaring. "Tell me how to get to this "airport."

* * *

Rogue, a tough-looking sophomore with a white streak in her untamed hair, grimaced when she looked at the new schedule Jean had posted on the wall. She may not have minded the change in schedule, but she knew some of her peers and underclassmen certainly would. And she didn't like whining. She played with the long sleeves on her shirt, pretending to ignore the change in schedule, and tried to nonchalantly stroll out of the room before she ran into-- 

The tornado of dissent. A mass of students ran her over, trying to view the new schedule. There was a pause. Then there was chaos.

"What do you mean we have gym class? I don't want no stinkin' gym!"

"Why can't we use our powers? What'll happen to our powers class?"

"Why is seventh grade English a double period?"

The poor middle schooler who spoke was given many a condescending look, and the mob returned to expressing outrage at its new gym classes. Rogue, unfortunately, was the only upperclassman in the vicinity (the rest having fled the mob minutes ago), so she angrily got between the mob and the cause of their entropy.

"Listen up!" she hissed at them. "We're having a transfer student come in tomorrow morning, and nobody--I repeat, **nobody**--is to use their powers, under any circumstance. I don't know about any of you, but I **don't** want the world to know about my powers!"

"Screw you," a tall, lanky boy sneered, sticking out his tongue. "Your powers suck, so you don't care!" His pale skin and spiky blonde hair turned white and started to glow. His eyes faded from green to yellow.

Rogue recognised him as Roger Maeholm, a sixth-grader who had just arrived in the institute last month. His power was to...shine light on people. Very scary. "Shut your mouth, punk," Rogue shot back, slipping off her glove. The mob of middle-schoolers instantly took a few steps backward; Rogue's power was to absorb human energy, memory, and mutant powers through ectodermal contact. In other words, if she touched any one of them, she'd sap that person's energy, steal his or her power, and know that person's deepest and darkest secrets. "You know if you were worth it, I'd hurt you so bad you couldn't move to hit me back." She glared at Roger, and he knew she meant it. She replaced her glove and smiled grimly. "Now, I want all you middle schoolers to be on your best behavior for the exchange student. If not, I know where to find you!"

She scanned the crowd, and noted a general assent. A few heads nodded reluctantly. She stepped away from the schedule and pushed through the crowd and into the empty hallway that would take her to her dorm.

* * *

Inu-Yasha sniffed at the ground. Kagome's scent was there. She had gone this way! He jumped up onto the building Kagome's grandfather had described as an "airport" and ran along it, looking for the boat Kagome would be riding in. There wasn't any water, but the old man had explained how these boats used a magic to fly through the air. He scanned the ground. Hey, were those monstrosities what the old man had meant? They certainly didn't look like any boats **he'd** ever seen. They were thin, tubular, and metallic. They each had two arms...or fins, Inu-Yasha realized to himself, and a dorsal fin. Each arm also seemed to have a circular structure on its underside that looked strikingly similar to the character for "forbidden..." Were these supposed to be boats that used a forbidden magic to swim through the air? 

Inu-Yasha examined each boat carefully. One smelled of Chinese herbs that made him sneeze. One had a sweet odor that seemed to draw him near, but it didn't smell of Kagome. He shook his head and moved on. The next smelled burnt, of ash and coals and things better left unsmelled. He gave that one a wide berth. Finally, after a few more failures, he came across one that smelled strongly of humans. He realized there was a barrier between this ship and the others, and that he was in a seperate section. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye, and realized that it was indeed Kagome. She was going into the ship on his right.

Inu-Yasha started toward Kagome, to head her off, but suddenly a memory of the last time he tried to retrieve her bubbled into his mind. She had been angry with him for interfering and had made him sit. He grimaced. "Best leave her to her own devices for now," he thought. "I'll see what she's up to before I head 'er off." Inu-Yasha snuck off to the back of the ship Kagome had boarded and clambered up onto its dorsal fin. He pressed his claws into the steel of the ship. Maybe he wouldn't interfere, but he sure wasn't going to let her go off to sea by herself!

* * *

Rogue arrived in her room as quietly as possible and went to close the door, but her frustration made it slam instead. Those underclassmen...making her life difficult! She scowled to herself and sent a punch flying into her mattress. 

"What is it, Rogue? Is something the matter?" her inquisitive roommate, Kitty Pryde, asked from the other side of the room.

"Oh, it's that stupid new schedule. The freshmen are really getting to me now. I mean, I almost blew up at Roger."

Kitty, who had been lazily lying on her bed, sat up with a start. "Roger...Maelholm? You mean Solar Ray?" She started snickering.

Rogue shot her a condescending glare. "Well, _you _go deal with him then. He got all angry because of some stupid gym class."

"I'd rather not." Kitty threw a pillow into the air and caught it. "So, what do you think this new student is going to be like? What grade is she going to be in? Will she hang out with us?"

Rogue flinched from the sudden onslaught of questions. "I'm sure we'll find all that out when she gets here tomorrow. I mean, if we're going to act like normal people, she won't have a reason to fear us mutants." Still frustrated from the mob of adolescents, frustrated by Kitty's constant questioning, and considerably tired of being around other people, Rogue walked out of the room again without bothering to close the door.

Kitty continued asking questions out loud, more to herself than anyone else. Finally, she got stuck on one last, pressing question. "What if she finds out we're mutants?"

* * *

(1) Sengoku Jidai is the feudal era of Japan, characterized by the presence of samurai and general warfare throughout the country. 


	2. Chapter 3 version 1

Kitty grinned. "Come on, I'll show you the archery course!" She grabbed Kagome's hand and practically dragged her across the whole field, until they came to the archery range. It was pretty empty, but the high schoolers and Kitty were the only ones who used it, and the high schoolers were assigned the tedious task of making sure nobody's powers slipped out into the open, so they had the range to themselves. Kitty picked up a shiny black hunting bow and horizontally notched an arrow into place. Then she lifted it up vertically, drew the bow, and fired. Her shot landed right inside the bull's eye.

"Ooh, I don't know about that one," she laughed, "I think it was a fluke. You'll probably get a bull's eye, too, with this bow's luck today." She sat down on a bench that was near the bow rack.

Kagome smiled. "Well, I'll give it a shot!"

Kagome copied Kitty's form, forsaking her freestyle form of the feudal era. She notched the arrow horizontally, turned the bow vertically, drew it, AIMED, and fired. Her arrowhead glowed with the light of the sacred arrow, and hit the bull's eye in the center. In fact, it completely obliterated the bull's eye. Kitty fell through the bench in shock.

Kagome heard the thud and turned around. "Are you all right?" she asked, extending her hand to help Kitty to her feet. Kitty reached out, but her hand slipped right through Kagome's. Kagome stared at her, concerned.

"Are you all right, Kitty? Is something wrong?"

Kitty closed her eyes, and focused all her will on staying calm. She slowly solidified. "I'm sorry. That was a bit of a shock for me. You shoot arrows of light. Did you know you could do that?"

Kagome leaned close to Kitty, in case someone was listening in on their conversation. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Did you just see me fall through a bench? Would you like to know my secret, too? I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."

"Likewise. It turns out I'm the reincarnation of a miko."

Kitty's expression was blank.

"It's Japanese for 'priestess,'" Kagome explained hastily. "In the feudal era of Japan, priestesses supposedly had mystical powers, and there were youkai, demons, all over the place. It was the job of the houshi, or priests, and the miko, to purify the youkai and protect humans. It turns out that that's true, and now I have those powers as well. The particular priestess' name was Kikyo, and she had the job of guarding a jewel with magical powers. So now, since I broke the jewel, I have to go retrieve all the pieces, and that's why I have the powers I have." Kagome paused for air. "So what's your story?"

Kitty shrugged. "It's a lot simpler than yours. One night, while I was asleep, I fell through the floor. The next day, I was shut in my locker, and I fell through that, too. Then this guy named Professor X, yeah, the guy who runs this place, came and explained that I was a mutant, and that I had this power. So that's how I got here."

Kagome was confused. "You were shut in your locker?"

"Yeah, people do that. I went to a typical, run-down, American high school. Like I said, I fell out of it, so I'm fine now. So, how did you find out you were the reincarnation of a priestess?"

"I was kidnapped by a demon who brought me through a magic well. Then this other demon told me I smelled exactly like the woman who tried to kill him, Kikyou. Then I was forced to set him free, and the younger sister of the woman who tried to kill him put a spell on him. Now, I can slam him to the ground whenever I need to. Anyway, then I was kidnapped again, and this witch tried to steal my soul because she wanted to revive Kikyou, and that's really how we figured it out." Kagome stopped talking. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, I'll need more proof for that. So, do you want the tour of the place, or the **real** tour of the place?"

"Do I want to know what the **real** tour is, or not?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have to ask Kurt. Come on."

Kitty led the way into the building, holding Kagome's wrist so they'd both phase through things. They eventually stopped at one of the bedrooms. Kitty knocked on the door.

The door opened, and a fuzzy blue head popped out. "Do you mind? I'm trying to fix my-- my…" Kurt trailed off as he saw Kagome.

"I thought she wasn't supposed to know!" he hissed to Kitty. "What kind of joke do you think she thinks this is? Don't you think she'd be afraid of a blue, fuzzy **mutant**!"

Kitty frowned. "She found out when I fell through a bench. Her aim was…very, very good. I was surprised."

"That's not like you." He raised his voice so as not to exclude Kagome. "So, what is it you wanted that is so much more important than fixing my holo-watch?"

"I was thinking you give Kagome the full tour of the place."

"You mean the **real** tour?" Kurt asked incredulously.

"Yep," smiled Kitty.

Kurt frowned suddenly. "Kitty? What are you up to? You're hiding something."

Kagome looked at Kitty with a look that clearly said, "Can we trust him?" Kitty nodded. Kurt let them in and they sat on the bed.

"Kitty fell through a bench when I shot a hole through the target in the archery area," Kagome explained. "I have magic arrows."

Kurt looked at her like she was insane. "You're kidding."

Kagome smiled. "If Kitty can pass through walls, why can't I shoot magic arrows? They each make about as much sense as the other. Oh, and the power source for your watch is missing. You can't fix it without the power source."

Kurt's gaze didn't waver, but his voice filled with even more incredulity than before. "And you can sense this?"

Kagome bent under the desk and picked a small crystal up. "It's a shard of the Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls. I can feel them. See? I have a couple in this jar." Kagome showed her shards to Kurt. "Well, here's your piece. Put it in your watch, and it'll work again. Of course, you don't need your watch to make the hologram, but if enough of the Jewel becomes tainted, then you'll be consumed with evil, so you'd better put it in your watch, instead." She handed Kurt the shard, and he put it in the holo-watch. He put the watch on, and he immediately turned into a normal teenage boy. Kagome smiled amiably. "I'm Higurashi Kagome. You're Kurt, right?"

Kurt sighed inwardly. Xavier didn't sense that this person was a mutant, yet she could sense these "power crystals" that powered his holo-watch. She didn't run or scream when she saw him for the first time, either. He was a blue-furred mutant with three fingers on each hand and a tail that ended in a spear-point. Who wouldn't be afraid? Well, obviously, the answer was Kagome. "Yeah. I'm Kurt Wagner."

Kagome reached out to shake his hand, and he accepted the handshake, a bit disconcerted. Kagome smiled a bit sadly for him. "Wow, the holographic projection makes this feel a bit strange to shake your hand." Kagome paused, thinking. "So, if you're a mutant too, what's your power?"

Kurt grinned. "You want me to show you?" Kagome nodded. She was pretty much prepared for anything, but her smile was still a little weak from apprehension. Kurt grabbed her hand again, and suddenly, there was a loud "bamf" and they were in the kitchen. A bit of black smoke unfurled from around them. Kagome stared for a second, and then smiled widely. "That was really, really cool! What's the English word for that? Awesome?"

"Yeah, I think that's the word. You really think so?"

"Of course! So, is it time for the **real** tour?"

"Sure thing. This is the kitchen. It's where we eat." Kurt smiled. "Of course, you knew that. Next stop," he paused and grabbed her hand, teleporting to another room, "is the front hall. You've seen that. Now we come to-" he teleported again, "-the social hall. Now, we'll go to the-" he teleported again "-exercise room…." Kurt trailed off. Rogue was staring at him.

"Kurt, what did we say about teleporting while the exchange student is here? She can't know we're mutants!" Rogue chided him. "Hey, who's that?" Rogue asked as she noticed Kagome for the first time.

"Konnichiwa," Kagome bowed, "Watashi-wa Higurashi Kagome desu. My name is Higurashi Kagome. I'm an exchange student from Nihon. Japan."

Rogue and Jean looked at each other in shock. What if Higurashi found out that they were mutants? She might tell everyone she knew; she might even tell the government! If she did, they were dead for sure. Hopefully, she didn't know what the word "mutant" meant, so if she heard it, she'd just glance over it as another English word she didn't know.

"So," Kagome started, startling them, "What do you learn here? Chi concentration? Youki manipulation?" She was tired of getting blank stares all of the time. This had to be the third time that day. "You know, how do you control your powers?" she clarified. The blank stares were replaced by shock.

"I know I'm not supposed to know about them," she said quickly, "but it's not anyone's fault but my own. I shoot really well, and Kitty fell through a bench in shock. That's okay, though; strange things happen all around me. I know you're mutants, but I want to know if your powers are Chi- or youki- based." She sighed. There must have been a sale on blank stares today, because everybody seemed to have a lot of them to spare. "Are your powers based on demon energy or spirit energy?"

"You know, I don't know, I'll ask the professor," Jean managed to say. She searched the school with her mind. Professor, are you there? I need you. Now. She sat down. "So, Kitty told you everything?" Jean was frustrated that her voice came out only as a small squeak. Oh, she was going to make Kitty Pryde regret the day she volunteered to give a tour to someone outside the school without being careful!

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I'm used to weird stuff happening, though." Kagome looked at her watch. "You know, it's getting pretty late. Maybe I can explain more in the morning."

Rogue fingered her left glove angrily. "Maybe you can explain it all now!"

Jean looked at Rogue sternly. "Rogue, that's no reason to-" she was cut off by a loud crash as the wall shattered into pavement. A teenage boy with long, white hair, golden eyes, and fuzzy dog's ears stood in the center of the destruction, and yelled something in Japanese. Kagome understood what he was saying.

"Kagome! These people don't smell human! They're some sort of demons!"

"Inu-Yasha," Kagome said irritably, "お座り!"

A/N: _Suwarinasai_ (座りなさい) is Japanese for "Sit down," but _osuwari_ (お座り) is the word Kagome chose because it is the command for a dog.

Inu-Yasha's necklace glowed with a purple light, and he was thrown corpulently to the ground. Kagome wasn't done venting, though. "Inu-Yasha, what are you doing here? You have to be fighting Naraku in the feudal era of Japan, not hanging around with humans in the present! You can't mess this up for me; If I don't take place in this student-exchange program, then I'll fail high-school just because I'm running around the Feudal Era of Japan all day, every day, only coming back for tests and medicine! What will Sango, Miroku, and Shippo do while I'm gone if you aren't there in case Naraku attacks?" She stopped suddenly, and realized that Inu-Yasha didn't understand a word she had just said. She had been speaking in English the whole time. That hadn't been the first time that had happened, either. She blushed and repeated her short speech in Japanese. Inu-Yasha wasn't happy.

"But they're demons!" he cried, drawing his Tetsusaiga and transforming it.

"お座り! お座り! お座り!"

Everybody stared at Kagome as, on her command, Inu-Yasha was thrown to the ground three times. Looking up at them, she laughed a bit. "I go through this just about every day. Once he attacked a painter because he smelled of ink; he has an 'attack first, ask questions later policy'. Fortunately for everyone, including him, now he is slammed to the ground whenever I order him to sit. In Japanese, of course."

_Professor, now would be a very good time to respond. Kagome brought a demon with her, apparently, and she has found out that we are mutants._

_A demon? Jean, are you sure it isn't a mutant that you're dealing with?_

_Whether it is or not, I can't figure out. There's a barrier into his head. Besides, he doesn't know English, so he probably thinks in Japanese. Either way, you'd better get here now._

The room was silent for about thirty seconds. The mutants in the room were silent from shock. Kurt, in particular, was mortified that someone with dog's ears crashed through a wall, drew a sword that was larger than himself, and called **him** a demon. He had sat down on an exercise bicycle, and his tail was thrashing around, his hologram ignored. Kagome and Inu-Yasha were staring at each other, each looking as if they were ready to kill the other.

Professor Xavier didn't shoot into the room in a blur, but his speed was very much greater than the average speed of a hyper teenager. Professor Xavier screeched to a halt, actually burning his hands from the friction and creating sparks against the polished hardwood floor. He looked grimly from Kurt, who was still swishing his tail like an angry cat, to Jean, who was looking warily at the dog demon, to Rogue, who looked like she'd like nothing better than to take off both of her gloves and find out just what was going on in that Inu-Yasha's head, or at least to shock some sense into him. He then turned to look at Kagome, who was staring at Inu-Yasha with a strangely vivacious tenacity, and Inu-Yasha, whose emotions of anger, confusion, and worry shone right through his tough demeanor like light through water.

_Rogue,_ he thought to her, _I would like you to somehow touch him, to absorb his memories. He seems convinced that he himself is a demon, and that mutants are demons. This Kagome Higurashi seems interesting, too, but she seems normal enough in her own right, at least compared to this "demon"._

Rogue nodded carefully, trying not to be noticed by the angry Inu-Yasha and also trying to hide her own fear of him. That sword, with its very accurate resemblance of a giant fang, scared her, even though it didn't look very sharp. She edged to the left, trying to circle around him.

Kagome stared at Inu-Yasha and said something in Japanese to him. He sneered, but replaced his sword into the scabbard at his side. Rogue noticed that the sword seemed to flash with a yellow light and transform as he did this. The ill-tempered mutant paused for a second, and suddenly snarled what seemed like a threat toward the professor. Xavier was wheeling toward him slowly, his expression calm and welcoming. No doubt he was trying to use the power of feeling as opposed to language to calm this "savage beast".

_Now, Rogue!_

Rogue almost flinched in shock as the command entered her head unexpectedly. She promptly took the professor at his word, removing her right glove and leaping upon Inuyasha. She braced herself for the storm of memories and emotions that would follow, but she wasn't reasonably prepared for this.

Kagome leapt back. That girl with the two-tone hairstyle suddenly leapt upon Inu-Yasha, and they were both screaming in agony. Inu-Yasha's hair was losing its snowy luster, fading into a midnight black. His ears were shriveling up as if they were being sucked of their very lives, and Kagome caught a glimpse of human ears behind the black hair of Inu-Yasha's human form, for that was what was happening. He was turning human. His claws were mere nails now, and his senses would also be those of a human. Both teens collapsed to the floor, and Kagome backed away. If that girl had stolen Inu-Yasha's youki, then…

"Get back!" she cried suddenly, alarmed. That white streak was widening, and the mutant's nails were growing. Kagome knew that it was true; Rogue had indeed absorbed Inu-Yasha's youki. Kagome pushed past everyone else urgently and dived for the Tetsusaiga. She missed it, falling short by a foot. Then she felt a foot pressing down on her back. She looked up to see the mutant transformed, looking very much like a cousin or sibling of Inu-Yasha with her white hair and fuzzy ears. However, the thing that scared her the most was that pair of glowing red eyes. Those were the same chilling red eyes that Inu-Yasha had when he lost control, and she knew at that point that her theory was correct. She needed to get Tetsusaiga before it was too late. She reached out for it, but she was still half a foot short. She relived a memory, for a split second, of the first time when Inu-Yasha got like that. When Tetsusaiga broke, he was unable to control himself, save to warn her not to approach for fear of her life. The next time he lost control, again because of his loss of Tetsusaiga, he lost even more control, slaughtering countless innocents in the rush of blood. The mutant who had taken his powers temporarily took on his Youkai ancestry, and because she wasn't even hanyou, she had no control at all. Nobody in that room, save perhaps Kurt, could guarantee that he or she would leave alive.


End file.
